In his autobiography The Bad Life that he wrote that he "got into the habit of paying for boys" for sex in Southeast Asia, saying his attraction to young male prostitutes was not dimmed despite knowing "the sordid details of this traffic."
"All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excited me enormously... the abundance of very attractive and immediately available young boys put me in a state of desire."The account of cruising for prostitutes in Thailand attracted little attention when it was published back in 2005, when Mitterrand was a TV personality. But now that he's in public office, Mitterand has come under attack from right and left, and facing calls for his resignation from the National Front.
Mitterand, who is a nephew of former president Francois Mitterand, has denied being a pedophile, saying the term "boys" was used loosely. (Yeahhhhh.) His strong, vocal defense of Roman Polanski, who now faces extradition charges for statutory rape, is apparently what brought the book back into the public eye. More here: French minister in 'boy sex' row.
